Organizing for America Plans 'National Day of Action' to Mobilize Grass Roots on Guns

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Organizing for Action is planning its first official mobilization in support of President Barack Obama’s proposals to curtail gun violence.

The nonprofit that inherited Obama’s campaign infrastructure and 2 million strong volunteer army will hold a “national day of action” on Feb. 22, officials said Tuesday.

Details of the event were not immediately available, but it will be a key test of the operation’s ability to push Obama’s second term agenda. The organization lay largely dormant during the president’s first term when it was housed within the Democratic National Committee.

Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for the group, said the day of action will consist of a series of coordinated, community-specific events held around the country and could include phone banking to vulnerable members of Congress and door knocking.

Roughly 133,000 OFA activists registered for a Tuesday conference call following the State of the Union address, said Sara El-Amine, OFA’s new national organizing director.

Obama, who joined former Campaign Manager Jim Messina and OFA Executive Director Jon Carson on the call shortly after he finished his speech, asked volunteers to rally around his proposals on immigration, climate change and job creation — much of which will face staunch opposition from Republicans in Congress.

“It’s people like you who are going to help us realize the vision I spoke about tonight,” Obama said. “We gotta get organized.”

The announcement was paired with the first fundraising appeal since Obama’s re-election and the organization’s change into a politically active nonprofit organized under the IRS’ 501(c)(4) tax code. Carson followed up with a fundraising email to the organization’s massive donor list Wednesday afternoon.